Cross-reference to Related Application

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application

Serial No. 61/442,843, entitled "PORTABLE LOCKABLE ENCLOSURE" and filed

February IS, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, to the extent that it is not conflicting with the present application.

Background

[0002] Lockablc enclosures are used in many indoor and outdoor environments to restrict access to various items by providing the enclosure with a lockable door, lid, drawer, or other such barrier. The barrier can include a locking mechanism, such as, for example, a combination lock, padlock, set of pushbuttons, or key operated latch, to limit access to the contents of the enclosure to one or more authorized users. Some applications may require secure storage of one or more items, such as documents or valuables, for which restricted access by a limited number of authorized individuals is desirable. One example of such an enclosure is a locking suitcase or bag, which may be provided in a size that is small enough and light enough to transport to other locations as necessary. This type of lockable enclosure, however, may be susceptible to theft of the entire enclosure and its contents.

Summary

[0003] The present application describes lock assemblies and arrangements, for use, for example, with lockable enclosures (e.g., a locking bag).

[0004] In one exemplary embodiment, a locking enclosure includes a zipper and a locking mechanism configured to secure the zipper in a closed position. An exemplary locking enclosure includes a case defining an interior cavity, a zipper disposed on the case, and a locking mechanism secured to the case. The zipper includes a zipper pull movable along a first axis from a closed position to an open position to access the interior cavity of the case. The locking mechanism includes a latch that interlocks with the zipper pull in a latching position to secure the zipper pull in the closed position. When the locking mechanism is in an unlocked position, the latch is pivotable about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis from the latching position to a releasing position to disengage the zipper pull.

[0005] hi another exemplary embodiment, a locking enclosure includes a zipper, a tether, and a locking mechanism configured to secure the zipper in a closed position and to secure a locking end portion of the tethering component to the enclosure. An exemplary locking enclosure includes a case defining an interior cavity, a zipper disposed on the case, a tether, and a locking mechanism secured to the case and operable between a locked position and an unlocked position. The zipper includes a zipper pull movable from a closed position to an open position to access the interior cavity of the case. The locking mechanism includes a first latch that interlocks with the zipper in a latching position to secure the zipper pull in the closed position, and a second latch that interlocks with the tether in a latching position. When the locking mechanism is in the unlocked position, the first latch is movable from the latching position to a releasing position to disengage a base of the zipper, and the second latch is movable independent of the first latch from the latching position to a releasing position to disengage the tether.

[0006] In still another exemplary embodiment, a lock assembly, for use, for example, with a locking enclosure, is configured to operate independent first and second latches. An exemplary lock assembly includes first and second lock members independently movable along a central axis between a first position securing a corresponding latch in a latching position, and a second position permitting movement of the corresponding latch from the latching position to a releasing position. A plurality of dials receive the first and second lock members therethrough and each dial includes a first unlocking feature and a second unlocking feature. When the plurality of dials are rotated such mat each of the first unlocking features aligns with corresponding blocking features on the first lock member, the first lock member is slideable from the first position to the second position. When the plurality of dials are rotated such that each of the second unlocking features aligns with corresponding blocking features on the second lock member, the second lock member is slideable from the first position to the second position.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007] Further features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments will become apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: [0008] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a locking bag;

[0009] Figure 2 is an exploded front perspective view of the locking bag of Figure 1 ;

[0010] Figure 3 is a partial perspective view of the locking bag of Figure 1 , showing the zipper latch member in the unlocked position;

[0011 ] Figure 4 is a partial perspective view of the locking bag of Figure 1, showing the zipper latch member in the locked position;

[0012] Figure 5 is a partial top perspective view of the locking bag, with the first housing body removed to illustrate additional features of the locking bag, shown without the cable and with the lock shaft in the extended position;

[0013] Figure 6 is a partial top cross-sectional view of the locking bag of Figure 1 , shown without the cable and with the lock shaft in the retracted position;

[0014] Figure 7 is a partial top cross-sectional view of the locking bag of Figure 1 , shown without the cable and with the cable latch member in the release position;

[0015] Figure 8 is a partial side cross-sectional view of the locking bag of Figure 1 , showing one of the hubs rotated to the unlocking orientation;

[0016] Figure 9 is a partial side cross-sectional view of the locking bag of Figure 1 , showing the zipper latch member pivoted out of the locking position;

[0017] Figure 10 is a top view of the internal locking mechanism of the locking bag of Figure 1;

[0018] Figure 11 is a partial side cross-sectional view of the locking bag of Figure 1, showing the zipper latch member in the code changing position; and

[0019] Figure 12 is a front cross sectional view of the locking bag of Figure 1.

Detailed Description

[0020] This Detailed Description merely describes exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope of the specification in any way. Indeed, the claims are broader than and unlimited by the exemplary embodiments, and the terms used in the claims have their full ordinary meaning.

[0021 ] Also, while the exemplary embodiments described in the specification and illustrated in the drawings relate to a combination dial locking storage bag for storing small electronics or other valuables, it should be understood that many of the features described herein may be applied to other locking arrangements, including other lock assemblies, such as, for example, padlocks, bicycle locks, and safety lockout devices, as well as other sizes and types of lockable enclosures, including, for example, safes, suitcases, briefcases, and lock boxes, and lockable enclosures utilizing other locking mechanisms, including key-operated locking mechanisms and electromechanical locking mechanisms.

[0022] One aspect of the present application contemplates a locking bag or other portable locking enclosure for holding items to be safeguarded, while restricting movement of the locking enclosure to another location. To prevent unauthorized theft of the enclosure and its contents, a tethering component may be utilized to secure the enclosure to an external structure, such as, for example, a hasp, wall, gate, or furniture unit. According to an aspect of the present application, a lockable enclosure includes a tether (e.g., a shackle or a flexible member, such as a cable, chain, wire, strap, or other such component) which may, but need not be, affixed to a portion of the enclosure at a first end, with a second, locking end that can be wrapped or extended through or around an external structure and then lockingly secured to the enclosure to securely retain the enclosure at the external structure, for example, to prevent theft of the enclosure and its contents. In one such embodiment, a catch member is provided at the locking end of the cable and is securely retained by a locking mechanism on the enclosure when the locking mechanism is in the locked condition.

[0023] A locking enclosure, such as a locking bag, may be provided with one or more zippers (or other closing fasteners) disposed on a casing portion of the locking enclosure for selective access to items securely retained within a cavity in the enclosure. In an exemplary embodiment of the present application, a locking mechanism may be utilized to lockingly secure the zipper in the closed position. To mat end, the locking mechanism may be configured to capture or block movement of a zipper pull, to prevent the zipper from being unzipped. While many different mechanisms may be utilized to block operation of the zipper pull, in one embodiment, a pivotable latch pivots around a base of the zipper pull (e.g., about an axis perpendicular to the opening direction of the zipper) to block movement of the zipper pull in the opening direction, and the pivotable latch is lockable in this zipper blocking position.

[0024] While a locking enclosure may be provided with separate locking mechanisms to secure a zipper (or other such closing fastener) and to secure a locking cable (or other such tether), according to still another aspect of the present application, a single locking mechanism may be configured to operate two or more latches or latch members, for example, to secure a tether and a closing fastener when the locking mechanism is in the locked position. When the locking mechanism is unlocked, the locking mechanism is operable to release either or both of the anchoring component and the closing fastener for transporting the enclosure and/or removing the contents of the enclosure.

[0025] Figures 1-12 illustrate an exemplary locking bag 100 including a case 110 defining an interior cavity and having a zipper 115 along a first edge to securely retain the contents of the interior cavity. The zipper 115 includes a zipper pull 116 to manually open and close the zipper. An exemplary locking mechanism 120 includes a housing 125 that is secured to a second edge of the case 110 adjacent to the first edge, and may extend across at least a portion of or an entirety of the second edge. The locking mechanism 120 includes a zipper latch member 122 that is positionable to block movement of the zipper pull 116 when the zipper 115 is closed to maintain the case 110 in the closed condition. In the illustrated embodiment, the zipper pull 116 is receivable between end walls 126a, 126b of the housing 125 (see Figure 3) when the zipper 115 is closed, and the zipper latch member 122 is pivotable over the zipper pull 116 to capture the zipper pull in a notch 123 in the zipper latch member 122 (see Figures 1 and 4-7).

[0026) While many different locking mechanisms may be utilized, in the illustrated embodiment, a multiple dial combination locking mechanism secures the zipper latch member 122 in a locked condition, and allows the zipper latch member to pivot to an unlocked condition when the dials are rotated to an authorized combination setting, thereby releasing the zipper pull 116 for opening the zipper 115.

[0027] In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in Figure 2, the locking mechanism housing 125 is formed from front and rear body portions 125a, 125b secured together, for example, by rivets 129 or other fasteners to enclose the locking components. Three combination dials 131 are disposed in slots 127 in the body portions 125a, 125b of the exemplary locking mechanism, such that an outer wheel portion 136 of each dial 131 is visible and graspable for manual rotation. In other embodiments, different numbers of dials and/or different indicia on the dials (e.g., letters, symbols) may be utilized. As shown in Figure 8, the wheels 136 include inner notches 132 that receive nibs 134 on corresponding hubs 133 of the dials for mutual rotation of the wheels 136 and hubs 133 about a zipper lock shaft 137(or other suitable zipper lock member). The hubs 133 include internal slots 135 (or other such zipper unlocking features) that align with ribs 138 (or other such blocking features) on the zipper lock shaft 137 when the dials 131 are rotated to an authorized or unlocking orientation (corresponding with a predetermined authorized combination), thereby allowing the zipper lock shaft 137 to be slideably moved from a first (e.g., extended) position to a second (e.g., retracted) position when a button 141 secured to the end of the zipper lock shaft 137 is depressed. Retraction of the zipper lock shaft 137 withdraws a blocker portion 144 of the zipper lock shaft 137 from the zipper latch member 122 to allow the zipper latch member to be pivoted about the lock shaft 137 to the unlocked position to release the zipper pull 11 . When pivoted into the unlocked position, the zipper latch member 122 engages the end of the blocker portion 144 to hold the zipper lock shaft 137 in the second position. As shown in Figure 9, the zipper latch member 122 may be provided with retaining pins 124 mat are received in corresponding holes 128 in the front body portion 125a when the zipper latch member 122 is in the locked condition, to provide additional support for the zipper latch member 122.

[0028] To re-lock the zipper pull 116, the zipper latch member 122 is manually pivoted back to the locked position, and a biasing spring 139 forces the zipper lock shaft 137 back into the first position, such that the blocker portion 144 extends into the zipper latch member 122 to block rotation. Rotation of one or more of the dials 131 out of their unlocking orientation once again blocks the zipper lock shaft 137 from moving to the second position, by interference between the lock shaft blocking features 138 and the hubs 133 of the one or more dials 131.

[0029] The locking mechanism 120 may also be configured to facilitate a change of the authorized combination. In the exemplary embodiment, the zipper latch member 122 may be pivoted beyond the unlocked position to a code change position (see Figure 11), in which a portion of the end 145 of the blocker portion 144 is exposed or otherwise engageable. A paper clip or other tool may then be used to push down on the end 145 of the blocker portion 144 against biasing spring 139, causing the zipper lock shaft 137 to move to a third, code change position, and moving the blocker portion (or some other portion of the lock shaft) to engage the endmost hub 133 and slide the hubs 133 out of engagement with the dials 131 (which remain fixed in the slots 127). This condition allows the wheels 136 to be rotated to a new authorized combination while the hubs 133 are retained in the unlocking orientation by the interlocked ribs 138. Release of the blocker portion 144 allows for the spring biased return of the zipper lock shaft 137 to the second position to re-engage die hubs 133 with the wheels 136 in the newly set unlocking orientation of the dials 131.

[0030] To secure the locking bag 100 to an external object or structure, the locking bag is provided with a cable ISO (or other suitable tether, such as a wire, chain, or U-bar shackle) that can be secured around, through, or with a portion of the external structure to prevent unauthorized removal of the locking bag from a location proximate to the external structure. While many different locking arrangements may be used to lockingly secure a tether to a locking enclosure, in one embodiment, the locking member may be secured using the locking mechanism provided for securely retaining the zipper in the closed position. As shown, the locking end portion 151 may be provided as a flanged catch member or other such structure configured for engagement with a locking latch.

[0031] In the illustrated embodiment, the housing is provided with a cable opening 152 for receiving the cable end portion 151, and a cable latch member 155 disposed in the housing 125 and spring biased (by spring member 161, see Figure 5) to engage the inserted cable end portion 151. The exemplary cable latch member 155 is integral (but may alternatively be assembled or operatively associated) with a tether lock shaft 153 (or other suitable tether lock member) coaxial with and overlapping the zipper lock shaft 137. To allow the tether lock shaft 153 and zipper lock shaft 137 to overlap, each portion may have complementary shaped cross-sections, as shown in Figure 8, such that the lock shafts 153, 137 form a cylindrical shaft assembly extending through the combination dials. The tether lock shaft 153 includes ribs 158a, 158b (or other such blocking feature) that align with internal slots 143a, 143b in the hubs 133 (or other such tether unlocking features) when the hubs 133 are rotated to the unlocking orientation, allowing for sliding movement of the tether lock shaft 153 from a first position to a second position to permit insertion or withdrawal of the cable end portion 151 from the housing 125. This alignment allows the tether lock shaft 153 to be slideably moved from the first position to the second position (e.g., retracted away from the cable end portion 151) when the cable end portion is pressed against a chamfered end surface 156 of the cable latch member 155 during insertion of the cable end portion 151. To release the inserted cable end portion 151, the cable latch member 155 may be manually retracted to the release position by moving user engageable tabs 157 extending from the cable latch member 1SS through openings 159 in the housing 125 (see Figure 3).

[0032] As shown in the illustrated embodiment (see Figure 8), the size, shape, and/or number of the zipper unlocking features (slots 135) of the hubs 133 are complementary to the blocking features (ribs 138) of the zipper lock shaft 137, to permit sliding movement of the zipper lock shaft 137 when the zipper unlocking features 135 are aligned with the blocking features 138 of the zipper lock shaft 137. The size, shape, and/or number of the zipper unlocking features of the hubs are configured to differ from the blocking features (ribs 158a, 158b) of the tether lock shaft 153, to prevent movement of the tether lock shaft resulting from alignment with the zipper unlocking features 135. Likewise, the size, shape, and/or number of the tether unlocking features (slots 143a, 143b) of the hubs 133 are complementary to the blocking features (ribs 158a, 158b) of the tether lock shaft 153, to permit sliding movement of the tether lock shaft when the tether unlocking features 143a, 143b are aligned with the blocking features 158a, 158b of the tether lock shaft 153. The size, shape, and/or number of the tether unlocking features 143a, 143b of the hubs 133 are configured to differ from the blocking features 138 of the zipper lock shaft 137, to prevent movement of the zipper lock shaft resulting from alignment with the tether unlocking features 143a, 143b.

[0033] In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, each of the plurality of dials 131 has a single unlocking orientation, in which the zipper unlocking features 135 align with the blocking features 138 of the zipper lock shaft 137, and the tether unlocking features 143a, 143b align with the blocking features 158a, 158b of the tether lock shaft 153. This provides for a single authorized dial combination in which each of the lock shafts 137, 153 is slideable to its second position to release the corresponding latch member 122, 155. In other embodiments (not shown), a locking assembly may be provided with separate zipper and tether unlocking combination codes, with the zipper unlocking features aligning with the blocking features of the zipper lock shaft in a zipper unlocking orientation of each of the dials, and with the tether unlocking features aligning with the blocking features of the tether lock shaft in a different tether unlocking orientation of each of the dials. This would allow, for example, for the authorization of an individual to release only one of two latches associated with a lock assembly (e.g., only a zipper latch, or only a tether latch).

[0034] While a cable or other such tether may be loosely retained with a locking enclosure, a locking enclosure may be configured to more closely retain or stow the tether when the tether is not locked with the enclosure. Many different configurations may be utilized to retain the cable 1 SO (or other such tether) when the cable end 151 is not locked with the housing 125. In the illustrated embodiment, the cable 150 is wrapped around the housing 125 and retained in a groove 154 around a perimeter of the housing 125. In other embodiments (not shown), the cable may be stored in an internal tube, pocket, or sleeve within the lock housing or within the case of the locking bag.

(0035] While various aspects, concepts and features may be described and illustrated herein as embodied in combination in the exemplary embodiments, these various aspects, concepts and features may be used in many alternative embodiments, either individually or in various combinations and sub-combinations thereof. Unless expressly excluded herein all such combinations and sub-combinations are intended to be within the scope of the present inventions. Still further, while various alternative embodiments as to the various aspects, concepts and features of the inventions-such as alternative materials, structures,

configurations, methods, circuits, devices and components, software, hardware, control logic, alternatives as to form, fit and function, and so on— may be described herein, such descriptions are not intended to be a complete or exhaustive list of available alternative embodiments, whether presently known or later developed. Those skilled in the art may readily adopt one or more of the inventive aspects, concepts or features into additional embodiments and uses within the scope of the present inventions even if such embodiments are not expressly disclosed herein. Additionally, even though some features, concepts or aspects of the inventions may be described herein as being a preferred arrangement or method, such description is not intended to suggest that such feature is required or necessary unless expressly so stated. Still further, exemplary or representative values and ranges may be included to assist in understanding the present disclosure; however, such values and ranges are not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to be critical values or ranges only if so expressly stated. Moreover, while various aspects, features and concepts may be expressly identified herein as being inventive or forming part of an invention, such identification is not intended to be exclusive, but rather there may be inventive aspects, concepts and features that are fully described herein without being expressly identified as such or as part of a specific invention. Descriptions of exemplary methods or processes are not limited to inclusion of all steps as being required in all cases, nor is the order that the steps are presented to be construed as required or necessary unless expressly so stated.